Note this: When it comes to keto-approved foods, you don't have to spend an arm and a leg. Yes, it's suggested your meats are either grass-fed or cage-free and your seafood wild-caught. For produce, organic is recommended. That said, you will not mess up your chances of achieving ketosis by purchasing farmed or non-organic foods. Do what best fits your budget and goals.
Lower-carb veggies, like cucumber, celery, asparagus, squash, and zucchini; cruciferous veggies, like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts; nightshades, like eggplant, tomatoes, and peppers; root vegetables, like onion, garlic, and radishes, and sea veggies, like nori and kombu. The guidelines are simple: focus on dark, leafy greens, then the stuff that grows above the ground, then root vegetables.
Yogurt contains calcium, vitamins B and D, and other minerals. Calcium isn’t just essential for healthy teeth and bones. Calcium is an essential nutrient your body needs. According to the USDA, you should consume around 1,100-1,200 milligrams each day[*]. Calcium also helps your blood clot, promotes muscle contraction and helps your heart pump blood[*].
Whether you munch on them on their own or pair them with melt-in-your-mouth Havarti, Kalamata olives are one of our go-to snacks both on and off keto. Six plump olives boast just 35 calories and 130 milligrams of sodium, a low count to keep bloating at bay. Most of the fat content in olives is monounsaturated, and more specifically oleic acid, which has been linked to anti-inflammatory and heart-protective benefits.
That’s because your body has the ability to make glucose out of protein through a process called gluconeogenesis. When this happens, your body reverts to burning glucose (rather than fat) for energy, taking you out of ketosis. A 2011 study confirmed that “[Low-carbohydrate/high-fat diets] must be high in fat, but also low in protein contents to be clearly ketogenic. ”
Yogurt topped with a few nuts might seem like a no-brainer keto snack, but a 5.3 ounce serving of plain yogurt has 12 grams of carbohydrates. If you opt for flavored yogurt, like vanilla, that carb count doubles to 24 grams of carbohydrates for 6 ounces. Your best bet is to choose plain Greek yogurt, which has as little as five grams of carbohydrates for a 7 ounce serving.
Another thing worth noting is that there are three main types of carbohydrates: starches, sugars, and fiber. Of these three, sugars spike blood glucose levels the most, while fiber has no direct effect whatsoever. Fruit being particularly high in sugar is the most problematic plant food for keto. But if you plan your diet right, fruit can and should be part of your keto journey.

The gist of the eating plan? Taking in so few carbs sends your body into ketosis—a state of burning fat for energy, instead of carbohydrates or sugars, explains Beth Warren, RDN, founder of Beth Warren Nutrition and author of Secrets of a Kosher Girl: A 21-Day Nourishing Plan to Lose Weight and Feel Great (Even If You're Not Jewish). In order to stay in ketosis, you only consume 5% to 10% of your calories from carbohydrates—which for most followers is fewer than 20 grams total per day—and instead eat moderate amounts of protein and high amounts of fat.

As for all the other nutrients in meat? If you’re eating enough meat to get your protein, you’ll probably get enough of those, too. For example, that 4 ounces of chuck roast contains 113% of the RDA for vitamin B12, plus substantial amounts of other B vitamins, like choline. For people without special nutritional needs, it’s just not necessary to worry about it beyond that.
Perhaps the only thing more divisive than politics is canola oil. People have thoughts about it. Given the research available, Bulletproof and a growing number of nutrition experts are of the opinion that you should toss your canola oil. Canola oil is extracted via a process called hexane solvent extraction. This process uses chemicals and high heat to extract the oil and process it, and the final product is high in oxidation and trans fats.[3] In studies, canola oil has been linked to lower antioxidant levels in the body[4] and lung inflammation.[5]
I just made this for a birthday celebration. Absolutely fantastic! I had fresh limes and substituted for the lemon juice. It was so creamy and delicious 🙂 Even the sugar lovers were surprised at how great it was, couldn’t tell it was low carb. The next time I make this, it will get a topping of sweetened (Swerve confectioners) sour cream with zest mixed in. I can’t thank you enough for this recipe!

Hi Dorothy, The ingredients don’t scale perfectly to a 6-inch pie, but can be pretty close. If you enter “10” in the box that lists the number of servings, it will convert the amounts for you. Some amounts turn out a little odd (like 1.88 eggs), so with those it should be ok to round up. The baking time will need to decrease with a smaller cheesecake, as well.

If you’re one of the lucky people that have a dehydrator, you can take serious advantage of it by dehydrating thin slices of vegetables overnight (normally 12 hours) to get crisp, perfect vegetables that you can eat as snacks. Do this with zucchini, radish, or jicama. If you’re not lucky enough to have a dehydrator (like me), then you can easily make cheese chips in the oven and flavor them with your own spices!

As you will see, simple keto meals begins with the healthy fat consideration first, making sure plenty of low-starch veggies surround the fat along with a moderate protein source. Wild-caught salmon, as a high-fat fish, is a perfect keto choice, and easy keto meals can be a fatty cut of healthy protein like salmon or lamb served with plenty of green veggies.

Having said that, there is no (medical) reason for which these foods should be avoided. It does make life easier if you skip them as they are sometimes hard to find - you do have to find what works best for you. If using low-carb sweeteners and bread substitutes keep most people away from sugar and starch laden foods that's great. There are some dessert recipes with no sweeteners here - I think you'll like them 😊 ketodietapp.com/Blog/Filter
Hi Arielle, Yes, you can add more vanilla and lemon if you’d like. It should work fine as long as it’s not too much lemon juice. You could add some very finely grated lemon zest instead of more lemon juice to avoid changing the consistency. The fruit sauce with raspberries is also keto – berries can fit into keto diets in reasonable amounts. If you use a higher sugar fruit, it might not be, but with any berries it should be fine. I’m glad you liked the recipe!

We hope this list helps you figure out which meats are optimal for your daily diet planning. We are working on creating a printable version of this, so check back with us for that. We would love to hear your thoughts on this, so please leave us a comment below. If you have a favorite cut of meat that we left off this list, let us know what it is. We can add it to the calculator and see what score it gets.

Thinking back about the times I kicked grains and sugar out of my life, I try to remember the very first sweet low-carb treat I got my hands dirty with. I am pretty sure it was keto pancakes. I even dare to think that keto or some kind of low-carb pancakes was the sweet “first-time” for most of us. Naturally, it is a treat that the majority of us used to enjoy relatively frequently in our high-carb times.
Lower-carb veggies, like cucumber, celery, asparagus, squash, and zucchini; cruciferous veggies, like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts; nightshades, like eggplant, tomatoes, and peppers; root vegetables, like onion, garlic, and radishes, and sea veggies, like nori and kombu. The guidelines are simple: focus on dark, leafy greens, then the stuff that grows above the ground, then root vegetables.
On the other hand, the types of foods you’ll avoid eating on the keto, low-carb food plan are likely the same ones you are, or previously were, accustomed to getting lots of your daily calories from before starting this way of eating. This includes items like fruit, processed foods or drinks high in sugar, those made with any grains or white/wheat flour, conventional dairy products, desserts, and many other high-carb foods (especially those that are sources of “empty calories”).

Although rhubarb is a vegetable, it is culinary fruit. The plant's leaf stalks are the only edible part noted for their tart and slightly sweet taste. Rhubarb complements strawberries well in desserts but there are many other ways to use this low-carb keto diet fruit. Studies show that rhubarb has powerful healing properties with evidence that it can even fight sepsis [6].

In order to save you time and money (from printing and shipping costs), instead of being mailed, The 3 Week Ketogenic Diet is provided to you as an instant download E-Book or e-books which you can read on your PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android, Smartphone, Tablet or E-Reader. You can transfer it to as many devices as you like, and even print out pages.

I am slightly (?) confused—in the article you use phrases such as “the low carb yogurt theory”–it can be assumed–expect approximately–The actual number of carbs has been proven– Theory, assumed, expect, and “has been proven” just seem to be at odds with each other…I’ve given up Yogurt while on a keto diet and miss it. How are these claims substantiated? Appreciate any assistance you can provide..Brian Jamieson
You can cut the carb count in half since some of the sugars are consumed by active cultures. The number of carbs and sugar on the label do not take the fermentation process into account. To be absolutely sure that yogurt (in general or a new brand you’d like to try) isn’t affecting your attempts to stay in ketosis, you’ll need to monitor your ketone levels when you eat yogurt at first.

For anyone, regardless of any underlying health issues, the so-called keto flu is a possibility (and even likelihood) as your body adjusts to ketosis on the keto diet, says Tori Schmitt, RDN, founder of YES! Nutrition, LLC based in Dayton, Ohio. Fatigue, irritability, headaches, and nausea are all symptoms of the keto flu, Schmitt says. Fortunately, keto flu lasts only about one to two weeks.

Nuts might silently be holding you back from ketosis, so it’s important to understand which nuts are the best for a nutrient dense, gut-friendly, ketogenic diet. You might be wondering if they are okay to eat, after all, they’re tasty and high in fat. They are also widely marketed as being super healthy. But maybe you’ve heard some conflicting information about nuts and aren’t sure if they fit into the ketogenic diet and promote ketosis. Let’s set the record straight in this guide to the pros and cons of nuts on a ketogenic diet.
Cruciferous vegetables are the next category. They include broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. This class of vegetables has also been recognized for its healing potential. The phyto-chemicals regulate DNA and prevent cancer. Broccoli has been shown to protect the heart. Fermented cabbage is a source of good bacteria needed for a healthy gut that promotes weight-loss.
This Cheesy Gluten Free & Keto Chicken Quesadilla Recipe can be Made in Under 20 Minutes!!! It’s Incredibly Easy to Make and Tastes Just Like a Traditional Mexican Style Quesadilla. The Low Carb and Keto Cheese Shell is a Perfect Fit for this Classic. You’ll Wonder Why you Haven’t Tried This Sooner! It Makes an Awesome On The Go Lunch or an Easy to Throw Together Dinner. It Would also Be Great for Parties Because it Can be Made Ahead an Reheated in Just a Few Minutes.
So I made the recipe for 16 slices. That was the default, but there was enough filling for two of the pies and only enough crust for one pie. I tried to adjust it to just 8 slices before I made the recipe but the amounts were really dumb. The amounts were in decimals for cups instead of fractions and weird amounts for tablespoons like 0.5 tablespoon, etc.
Keeping you trim. The fats found in cottage cheese will set your body to fat burning mode. A high fat diet will help put your body into ketosis meaning that your body will use fat for energy instead of glycogen and carbs (1). A ketogenic diet has been indicated to make a positive difference in weight loss and cardiovascular health among other diseases including epilepsy (3).
Strawberries are another delicious, sweet, and filling fruit that you can eat in moderation on the keto diet. A ½-cup serving of sliced strawberries contains about 4.7 g of net carbs and 4.1 g of sugar. As there are only 27 calories in the aforementioned serving, you can eat strawberries raw, add a few pieces to your cereal, or blend a handful into a small low-carb smoothie. Strawberries also have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits, per a study published in February 2010 in the Journal of Medicinal Food. The same ½ cup provides 48.8 mg of vitamin C (81.3 percent DV), 127 mg of potassium (2.7 percent DV), and 20 micrograms of folate (5 percent DV).
Low-carb yogurts make perfect dipping sauces for veggie chips or crudités for parties or for film night! The yogurt can be flavored or plain, depending on your taste but the one in this great Keto recipe is flavored with lemon and dill, complementing the crunchy, cheesy parmesan crust on the zucchini. You will find that because the sauce has dill in it, this would also go nicely with fish.
This is one area where full keto and Bulletproof differ. Except for coconut, all nuts and legumes are suspect on the Bulletproof Diet and should be limited. All expose you to high amounts of omega-6s, inflammatory oxidized fats, mold toxins, and phytates (plant anti-nutrients). Peanuts are one of the main sources of mold toxins in our diets, and often trigger allergic responses with inflammatory polyunsaturated fats, lectins and histamines. The Bulletproof Diet also excludes all soy products due to their phytoestrogen content, which messes with your hormones and may promote cancer.
When you have too much bad bacteria in your gut, you’ll usually suffer from uncomfortable digestive issues and other irritating symptoms such as bloating, constipation, candida overgrowth and bladder infections. To combat these unwanted side effects, rebalancing your gut bacteria levels is necessary so that you have a healthy mix of good and bad bacteria.
Hi Nanette, For this recipe I recommend a granulated sweetener in the crust and either powdered erythritol or powdered monk fruit in the filling. Pure stevia extract would be very concentrated and may change the end result. A stevia blend may work but the amount would vary depending on which one it is and what else is in it. You can check my sweetener conversion chart which can help if you look up the type you are using.
Thank you SO much for the breakdown. This is an excellent list that I am going to take with me to the store from now on. I haven’t started on the diet as of yet because I was trying to put a grocery list together. This list has been one of VERY few that have the foods and the guided amount without having to pay an absurd amount of money for a list of food you can and cant eat. There weren’t any recommended amounts to eat for the meat section and wanted to know if you had any recommendations for portions. Thanks again for taking time to get wonderful information out there.
For both keto and Bulletproof diets, opt for full-fat, grass-fed, raw, and organic dairy to reap the anti-inflammatory benefits of omega-3s and CLA. Dairy is a great source of fat on a ketogenic diet, but be mindful not over-do the protein. Although milk (yep, even raw, full-fat, or goat milk) is too high in lactose sugars, you can stay in ketosis with foods like butter, ghee, and colostrum. Avoid sweetened or low-fat dairy, evaporated or condensed milk, and buttermilk to keep your fat intake high.
• Humans unlike true carnivores do not have fangs to tear the flesh while the prey is walking. We need to marinate it to tenderize and so on which basically indicates we are not carnivore and that eating meat is an acquired taste. Humans are infatuated with the taste of meat and for long time now we have believed that eating meat is legitimate, a mistake with horrible consequences for animals and us.
Just when you thought your midnight-snacking of shredded cheese could be considered a healthy habit thanks to keto… (You kid, you knew it was too good to be true all along.) Cheese in general is not recommended on clean keto or the Bulletproof Diet. Dairy proteins are among the worst offenders for allergies and inflammation. If your body doesn’t like casein, your immune system will attack every time you eat it. The reaction may be subtle and chronic, or it could trigger an autoimmune flare-up and other inflammatory conditions. Cheese also harbors tons of toxic mold from the animal’s diet.[11]
This is one area where full keto and Bulletproof differ. Except for coconut, all nuts and legumes are suspect on the Bulletproof Diet and should be limited. All expose you to high amounts of omega-6s, inflammatory oxidized fats, mold toxins, and phytates (plant anti-nutrients). Peanuts are one of the main sources of mold toxins in our diets, and often trigger allergic responses with inflammatory polyunsaturated fats, lectins and histamines. The Bulletproof Diet also excludes all soy products due to their phytoestrogen content, which messes with your hormones and may promote cancer.
Carminative herbs like garlic and ginger add a pungent aroma to meals which is important for stimulating the flow of gastric juices in the stomach. Their natural oils increase bile flow so consider adding crushed garlic to your high fat meals and enjoy the smells circulating the kitchen. They are also high in vitamins A, polyphenols, amino acids and phytosterols. (3)
Over the last year, the keto diet has skyrocketed in popularity, probably for one very distinct reason: it encourages you to eat fatty foods. The only major caveat is that you have to keep your carb intake low. Offsetting this often-difficult task, however, is the keto diet's allowance of another beloved food group: dairy. Most cheeses are low in carbs, making them perfectly acceptable for the keto meal plan. The same goes for fatty dairy foods like butter and heavy cream, which almost seems too good to be true. A diet that gives you the thumbs-up when you eat butter? It's not hard to see how it caught on and spread like wildfire.
But if your friends have gone #keto and you're curious about what that exactly entails, the basic premise is fairly simple. The diet focuses on eating mostly fat, limited amounts of protein, and almost no carbs at all. The "do" list includes: meat, seafood, eggs, vegetables that grow above ground, nuts and seeds, fats and oils, and some dairy products. In terms of drinks, most keto diet guides advise people to stick to water and skip diet soda, even though it's artificially sweetened. (No Diet Coke — sorry!)
For both keto and Bulletproof diets, opt for full-fat, grass-fed, raw, and organic dairy to reap the anti-inflammatory benefits of omega-3s and CLA. Dairy is a great source of fat on a ketogenic diet, but be mindful not over-do the protein. Although milk (yep, even raw, full-fat, or goat milk) is too high in lactose sugars, you can stay in ketosis with foods like butter, ghee, and colostrum. Avoid sweetened or low-fat dairy, evaporated or condensed milk, and buttermilk to keep your fat intake high.

Fruits that are high in fiber. For keto dieters counting net carbohydrates, fiber can be subtracted from total carb count. This exclusion of dietary fiber in the carb count allows for a wider variety of fruit that may be incorporated into your diet. Berries, for example, have a high fiber content and can be enjoyed in moderation on a ketogenic diet.

This trend line extended to cultured dairy. If you, like me, were born in the ’90s, you probably grew up eating low-fat yogurts like Original Yoplait (99 percent fat-free) or low-fat Dannon Fruit on the Bottom. Even YoCrunch, that junk-food yogurt with toppings, used (and still uses) low-fat yogurt as its base. This is just to say, low-fat yogurt was yogurt; it was what people wanted when they said they wanted yogurt. What began as an unproven heart disease theory had come to embody an implicit consumer logic.
For anyone, regardless of any underlying health issues, the so-called keto flu is a possibility (and even likelihood) as your body adjusts to ketosis on the keto diet, says Tori Schmitt, RDN, founder of YES! Nutrition, LLC based in Dayton, Ohio. Fatigue, irritability, headaches, and nausea are all symptoms of the keto flu, Schmitt says. Fortunately, keto flu lasts only about one to two weeks.
There are plenty of keto fruit options out there that are high in fiber and low in net carbs, making them an ideal addition to a well-rounded ketogenic diet. In fact, adding a few low-carb fruits to your daily diet can help satisfy your sweet tooth while also supplying a steady stream of the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that your body needs.
It’s definitely not for everyone, lol! We prefer to focus on all the delicious, nutrient-dense real foods we can have instead of thinking about the foods we try to avoid. We’ve actually never felt restricted while living a keto lifestyle (take a look at our Recipes page and you’ll see what we mean). We noticed that when we nourish ourselves, our health improves and we feel better in so many different ways. We wish you success in whatever lifestyle works best for you!
Nuts are versatile and have tons of uses in a ketogenic diet besides snack. There is a nut butter, oil, or flour version of almost any nut. They are a great tool to help you stay on track if you choose to include them in your diet. I like to enjoy nuts and nut butter on occasion, especially the ones that are highest in fat, like pili nuts. I rarely use nut oils (with the exception of coconut oil, which isn’t really a nut anyway) because they can be very expensive, but nut flours are great to use in baking.
Prior to your response, I did make a cheesecake, using your recipe for the filling (so delish, and I received all favorable comments on it). Due to the cost difference between almond and coconut flour, I did find a recipe similar to the one you shared in your response, 1/2 C melted butter (1 stick) whisked until fully blended with 2 eggs, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Then slowly mix in 3/4 C sifted coconut flour. Kneaded for about a minute, adding coconut flour until not sticky. I simply then pressed crust into only the bottom portion of the springform pan, used a fork to punch multiple holes in it, then baked at 400° for 10 minutes. I let it fully cool before adding filling, then used your perfect instructions to bake the cheesecake. Love, love, love this recipe. I’m a happy Type-II Diabetic!
Keto is a lot more than a big pile of bacon – you don’t even need to eat meat at every meal to get enough protein for keto. Eggs are a great staple protein source, and low-carb dairy foods like cheese can give you a boost in the protein department. Getting high-quality protein at every meal is a good practice in general, especially for weight loss, but it doesn’t take any more meat than most people normally eat at a serving.
These pancakes do not turn out firm enough for you to be able to flip them in the air, but that is exactly what makes them so incredibly soft, fragile, meltable inside your mouth, etc. At this point, for some reason, I can’t help but hear Debra Morgan from the Dexter series using the f-word like a hundred times to compliment on the softness of the pancakes.
The whole point of going keto is to reach ketosis, a cult-y sounding name for the metabolic process that happens when your body uses fat instead of carbs for energy. To get there, you've gotta do the obvious: eat a whole lot of fat and little to no carbs. It's restrictive, but if you hack the the system just right, you can still create surprisingly delicious food—like taquitos and cookie dough bites. (These are our favorite keto recipes, by the way.)